De Pere’s Fabry repeats as D1 girls state pole vault champion
There was a brief period of rain at the WIAA state track and field meet this year.
It coincided with the tears Olivia Fabry shed when giving her father, Ryan, a hug after repeating as the Division 1 state champion in the girls pole vault.
“I cried a lot,” Fabry said. “I think it was the feeling of the last time he’s going to be my coach. I’m going to miss it a lot with him. It’s comforting to have him there. It’s going to be different without him, but I’m grateful for the time we had together.”
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Fabry won a seconds straight state title by clearing 12 feet and share the podium with teammate Grace Kowalkowski, who placed third with a clearance of 11-6 to become a four-time state medalist.
“It has been an unbelievable honor to be a part of coaching these girls,” De Pere pole vault coach Ryan Fabry said.
Coach Fabry was a bit anxious waiting for the bar to get raised to the point where his vaulters would make their first attempts.
Meanwhile, the girls sat calm, cool and collected waiting to showcase their talents one final time at the state meet.
“It feels good,” Olivia Fabry said. “It’s a little sad to be done. I have college, but this has been a big party of my life for four years.”
On the boys side, De Pere’s 3,200-meter relay also made it to the state podium.
The quartet of senior Aaron Milkie, junior Matthew Galler, junior Daniel Ericksrud and junior Andrew Lopez placed fourth.
The Redbirds entered the meet with the state’s best time. Despite not reaching the top of the podium, Milkie, Galler, Ericksrud and Lopez ran a school-record time of 7 minutes, 53.10 seconds.
“I think it means a great deal,” Milkie said. “We’re not too disappointed because we did PR by like 4 seconds.”
